Eighty years on. 11th July 1940

Historical

Despite low cloud cover, Hurricanes from 601 Squadron & Spitfires of 609 Squadron tangled with Ju87 Stukas & Messerschmitt Bf109s attacking the Royal Navy base at Portland.   One Hurricane, 2 two Spitfires, two Stukas and two Bf109s were shot down.  Hurricanes of 66 Squadron attacked a reconnaissance Dornier Do17 bomber off the east coast of England (the Dornier and one Hurricane were lost).  Six Spitfires shot down a Heinkel rescue seaplane bearing Red Cross markings escorted by twelve Bf109s of the coast of Kent.  Two Spitfires and two Bf109s are also shot down.

The RAF raided airfields in the Netherlands and munitions factories in Germany.

In the Indian Ocean four hundred miles Southeast of Ceylon the German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis sank the British SS City Of Baghdad carrying 9,324 tons of steel, chemicals and machinery.  

U-34 sank the Norwegian steamer Janna 100 miles Southwest of Ireland.  In the Mediterranean the Italian submarine Tarantini sank the Panamanian tanker Beme south of Cyprus.  The crew were rescued by the U-boat.  The destroyer HMS Escort was also sunk by an Italian submarine.

Rumania quit the League of Nations.

Marshal Pétain abrogated Article 2 of the French Constitutional Laws of 1875 which provided for the position of a President elected by the National Assembly.  In Paris, the first edition of the collaborationist newspaper “La Gerbe” was published.

British Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Rab Butler confirmed in the House of Commons that the exiled Ethiopian government of Haile Selassie was to be recognized as an ally of Britain and that Ethiopia’s independence would be restored after the war was won.

Game day 315.  Germany

The warship in the North Atlantic headed for Norway, passing the west coast of Ireland.  8 submarine units were launched at Kiel.  The three in Brest attacked the British warships bombarding their base.  One battleship was sunk for the loss of two sumbarines. 

Five Luftwaffe fighter units from two bases in France attacked merchant shipping on the south coast of Britain.  They were intercepted by two RAF fighter units before attacking.  Two Luftwaffe units were lost.  The RAF lost one squadron and all three ships were sunk in harbour.